US power metal is an extremely attractive music genre to me. One of the most eminent bands of that genre is Iced Earth for those who wonder what that genre is. Shadowdance is a band that releases its second full-length album, FUTURE NEGATIVE FANTASY. It’s a band that plays US power metal as good as other renowned bands (Chastain, Sanctuary, Vicious Rumors, Agent Steel and others).

When I first listened to FUTURE NEGATIVE FANTASY I was really got touched by its music. What Shadowdance do have in spades is riffs... FUTURE NEGATIVE FANTASY is a record by a band coming into their own.. .this is only the beginning. This is not simply a good heavy metal album. "The subtitle for FUTURE NEGATIVE FANTASY is 'We are the best holdovers of heavy metal and the metal heritage will not be gone' and these words encompass the album's themes of fear, despair, confusion, and yes, even a dash of hope.

These fellows are energetic and loud, and while they like to keep things short, they pack as much noise as they can into each and every track... Imagine Helloween and Iced Earth combined forces... Their music is loud and constantly shifting rhythms and tempos. The opener track, ‘Neon Abyss’ is an absolute power metal song like a European power metal one. Songs like ‘Moonlight Tide’ can be enlisted as one of the top ballad of the year. It’s worth saying something about the symphonic title track that is the longest song of the album (8-minute song) which condenses all the musical elements that can make Shadowdance the next big thing. And this is not an exaggeration.

Shadowdance have definitely blended the right mix of atmosphere with the right mix of US Power metal to make a listen that is superbly solid and second to none. Whatever you want to call this stuff, I definitely hope to hear more of them in the future. George Eliassen’s vocals can be described only as extremely strong. Cage’s singer, Sean Peck and Matt Barlow (ex-Iced Earth,ex-Pyramaze, Ashes of Ares) found a very good competitor for their vocal race.

The well-documented tales of the likes of Iced Earth, Nevermore, Bloodbound, Communic and Eidolon and a host of others are aplenty. But the tales of those who carry the heavy/power metal with prog elements are still being written year by year. One band sure to write their own chapter in this hopefully never-ending musical tome is Shadowdance.